Instagram pre-approves creators

Instagram is adding a control that lets brands pre-approve which creators can make branded content with them before a post goes live. (x.com) The new setting appears in Instagram’s branded-content tools as “Approve Content Creators,” according to a post shared on X this week. The control is described as a way for brands to manage creator access, and the options can be applied retroactively to existing relationships. (x.com) Instagram already requires creators to tag business partners when there is an exchange of value, using the app’s paid partnership label across Feed posts, Stories, Reels, Live and videos. Meta says those branded-content rules apply whether the account is creator, business or personal. (facebook.com, facebook.com) For brands, the approval step sits inside a larger ad system Meta now calls partnership ads, the format formerly known as branded content ads. Meta says partnership ads let advertisers amplify content using a creator’s handle, rather than only the brand’s own account. (facebook.com, about.fb.com) Meta has spent the past two years building more infrastructure around those deals. In June 2022, the company said it would test Creator Marketplace on Instagram, and in February 2024 it said the marketplace was expanding beyond the United States to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Japan, India and Brazil, with Chinese export brands also invited to work with creators abroad. (about.fb.com, about.fb.com) That expansion came with new recommendation tools for brands in Meta Business Suite, where Meta said machine-learning systems would suggest creators for campaigns. The same February 2024 announcement framed partnership ads as one of the main reasons brands use Creator Marketplace. (about.fb.com) The new pre-approval control adds another layer of gatekeeping for brands that want tighter control over who can attach their name to a paid partnership label. It also reduces the need to review creator permissions one post at a time when a brand works with many partners at once. (x.com, facebook.com) Creators still keep a separate role in the process. Meta’s help pages say creators control whether a business can boost their branded-content post, and advertisers can also run partnership ads when a partner shares a partnership ad code. (facebook.com, facebook.com) Instagram has not published a broader newsroom post about the change on Meta’s public news site as of April 12, 2026. For now, the update looks like a product-level tweak aimed at the growing business of paid partnerships, where brands want creator reach without giving every creator open access to their name. (about.fb.com, x.com)